Post card and envelope counter



April 1930- c. G. CORNING 1,755,053

POST CARD AND ENVELOPE COUNTER Filed Jan. 21. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 'W/ r/VESSES April l5, 1930. Q CORNING 1,755,053

POST CARD AND ENVELOPE COUNTER Filed Jan. 21, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 30 11- w 26 I, z 5/ .2/ WIT/YESfiE-S Patented Apr. 15, 1933 h l ()F'FHCE POST CARD AND ENVELOPE COUNTER Application filed January This invention relates to a counting device or machine designed particularly for counting envelopes, cards or other articles of this character. Y

The primary object of the present invention is to provide, in a manner as hereinafter set forth, a machine capable of counting out, after certain adjustments, a pre-determined number of articles such as cards or envelopes.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in a manner as hereinafter set forth, a machine for counting out a predetermined number of cards or envelopes and having associated with the counter member, a device for regulating the discharge of articles counted,

to prevent accidental discharge of more than one of the articles at a time, thus preventing jamming of the machine.

A still further object of the invention is to 0 provide, in a manner as hereinafter set forth,

a counting machine of the above described character operated by a geared structure wherein one complete revolution of the machine drive gear will operate an ejector device for the discharge of a stated number of the articles.

Another object of this invention is to provide, in a manner as hereinafter set forth, a

counter for articles of the character described, which is of simple but strong and durable construction, easy to adjust and manipulate and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, and set up. 05 Numerous other objects and advantages of u the invention will become apparent as the description of the same proceeds, and the invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawing but may be changed or modified, so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawing: Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine embodying this invention.

21, race.

Serial No. 2 lS,4O1.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the machine.

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the upper part of the machine.

Figure 4- is a central longitudinal vertical section of the machine.

Figure 5 is a longitudinal, horizontal section taken upon the line 5-5 of Figure 4:, and

Figure 6 is a section taken upon the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral 1 indicates generally the machine embodying the present invention which machine as is shown comprises the side walls 2 each of which is cut down from the top edge at the forward end thereof, forming the sloping front edges 3 and the low forward walls i. The walls 2 are connected at, their bottom edges by the floor section 5 and at their front edges are turned inwardly as indicated at 6. In the forward portion of the machine structure there is mounted between the portion l of the walls at a substantial dis tance below the top edges thereof and at a' downward forward inclination, the receiving platform 7 the rear edge of which terminates beneath the inclined wall edges 3 as shown in Figure 4. A stop supporting and brace plate 8 connects the inclined edges 3 of the wall over the rear of the receiving platform 7 as shown in Figures 2 and 4, which plate besides strengthing and bracing the structure serves to support guiding and guard key members hereinafter more fully described.

Mounted between the rear portions of the walls 2, in a plane slightly below the plate 8 is a counter platform 9 upon which the cards, envelopes or papers are placed previous to the counting operation. This platform 9 is provided at the forward end with the enlarged recesses 10 and the small recesses 11 therebetween.

Extending transversely of the machine body beneath the counter platform 9, are three rotary shafts 12, 13 and 14:. The shaft 12 carries a pair of throw-out wheels 15 each of which has a portion of the peripheral surface thereof covered with an anti-slipping material such as rubber or felt, this material being indicated by the numeral 16. The surfaces of the friction members 16 on the throwout wheels project slightly through the openings 1O beneath which the wheels are mounted so that the under surface of a card or envelope lying upon the platform 9, will be engaged and propelled forwardly onto the receiving platform 7 when the throw-out wheels are rotated in a counter clockwise direction. The shaft 12 which carries the throw-out wheels 15 also carries a pinion gear 17 which is in mesh with a gear 18 carried upon the shaft 13. The ratio between the gears 17 and 18 is approximately 5 to 1 so that upon one turning of the shaft 13 and the gear 18 carried thereby, the pinion 17 will be rotated 5 times. Uponthe shaft 13 adjacent the gear 18, is mounted a pinion 19 which is in mesh with a ear 20 carried upon the shaft 14. The sha 13 might be termed the power shaft as one end thereof carries, exteriorly of the machine casing, a crank 21 by means of which rotary motion is imparted to the shaft 13 and to the shafts 12 and 14 which are con nected therewith and actuated by the gears referred to. The gear 20 which might be termed the counting gear and the pinion 19 upon the drive shaft 13, bear a ratio of 5 to 1 like the gear and pinion 17 and 18 so that it will be seen that five revolutions of the shaft 13 must be made before the gear 20 and the shaft upon which it is carried, complete one revolution.

Mounted upon the floor or bottom 5 of the machine is a standard 22 upon which the bar 23 is pivotally mounted adjacent one end. As shown this bar extends longitudinally of the casing and carries the rib 24 which is located adjacent the gear 20. The gear 20 carries a pin 25 which projects from that face lying nearest the rib 24 on the bar 23, which pin is designed to strike the rib 24 when the gear 20 is rotated to depress the bar 23. The bar is normally held in raised position by the spring 26 which rests at one end upon the floor 5 and bears against the under side of the bar at its other end.

The forward end of the osc llating bar 23 carries the stop bar 27, the lower end of this bar being pivotally attached to the oscillating bar 23 while the upper end extends through the recess 11 in the platform 9. The stop bar 27 is slidably supported in upright position by a guide 27 which is secured to the under side of the platform 9.

Adjacent the free end of the oscillating bar 23 there is positioned upon the floor 5 and pivotally attached thereto, the upright latch post 28, one side of which is provided with a notch 29 in which the bar 23 engages when pressed downwardly by the pin 25, the post 28 be ng swayed laterally by the spring 30 to cause the notch to engage the bar 23. Restmgupon the upper end of the post 28 in opposltion to the spring 30 is a release pin 31 which extends through the adjacent side wall 2 of the machine and terminates in the button 32 exteriorly of the machine. A spring 33 which surrounds the release pin 31 normally acts thereon to maintain the pin projected outwardly to permit the spring 30 to have full control over the post 28.

Secured to the outer face of that machine wall 2 adjacent which the operating crank 21 is located, is a dial 34; which is concentrically mounted upon the shaft 141- and is scaled from one to 25. This dial is held stationary against the wall of the machine. The end of the shaft 141 extends through the center of the dial 34; and carries the pointer 35 thereon by means of which in conjunction with the dial the machine may be set to discharge any number of cards from one to twenty-five.

The plate 8 carries a pair of outwardly projecting studs 36 upon each of which is mounted a pair of flat fingers 37 and 38 each of the fingers being provid d with a longitudinally extending groove 39 to permit its longitudial adjustment upon the stud. A binding nut -10 is tl'ireaded upon the outer end of the stud and acts to coumzcss the fingers against the plate to maintain them in adjusted position. The fin ers 37 are materially longer than the fingers and at their lower ends curve toward the front of the machine as is indicated at 1-1, these curred ends being positioned beneath the platform 9 so that as a card or envelope is discharged from the platforn'l it will strike the curved rear face of the finger 37 and he direc ed downwardly onto the lQCCi. uo' pla form 7.

The finger 38 which lies beneatn 0. "er 3'? has the lower end thereof turned 511 tly toward the rear of the uni-chine as indicated. and this turned end pos tioned in a plane slightly above the top of the platform 9 so that on y one card or envelope can leave the platform at a time. lVith-out the finger 38 the friction between the lowcrnio card as it leaves the platform u idezthe o of the wheels 15, against the no curd up would cause this next card to move forward also. The second card from the bottom is pru'cn'ted from passing off of the platform until the lowermost card has left the same by r: on of its engagement with the lower end (31, ill, finger 38. It will. be readily seen cor-.rsc

that when the lowermost card i 1' the platform the pack will drop and th card will then be in a position to pass the finger 38.

To operate the machine if count out 15 cards the crank a counterclockwise direction in other words -until the dial swung around to the numeral thus rotating the counting gear 2 in cock-wise dircction. The cards or envelopes to are then placed upon the platforn 31 forced inwardly to release the o lli) bar 23 so as to bring the rib 24 into; position for contact with the pin 25, and the handle 21 rotated. When the desired number of cards has been discharged on to the table 7, the

pin 21 will have moved to a position where 28to one side to engage the bar 23 in the notch 29 when it has been forced downwardly to the proper position by the pin Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

1. A card and envelope counter of the character described, comprising means for sup porting a stack of articles to be counted, means for removing single articles from a stack on said supporting means, a panel arranged transversely of and forwardly of said supporting means, a pair of'superposed finger members secured to said panel and projecting beyond the lower edge thereof, one of said finger members having its lower end arranged in a plane a sufiicient distance above said stack supporting means to permit a single article to pass therebeneai h, and the other finger members extending a substantial distance beneath the first mentioned finger member and curving forwardly and acting to guide an article downwardly as it moves from said sup porting means.

2. A card and envelope counter of the character described, comprising means for supporting a stack of articles to be counted, means for removing single articles from a stack on said supporting means, a panel arranged transversely and forwardly of said supporting means, a pair of superposed finger members secured to said panel and projecting beyond the lower edge thereof, one of said finger members having its lower end arranged in a plane a sufficient distance above said stack supporting means to permit a single article to pass therebeneath, and the other finger members extending a substantial distance beneath the first mentioned finger member and curving forwardly and acting to guide an article downwardly as it moves from said supporting means, said fin.- gers being adjustable relative to one another and to the stack supporting means, substantially as described.

3. A card and envelope counting machine of the character described, comprising a platform with a recess therein, a shaft extending transversely beneath said platform, a rotary ejector member mounted upon said shaft and projecting through said. recess to engage one of a plurality of stacked articles on the platform, a pinion gear carried by said shaft, a drive shaft rotatably mountec adjacent said first mentioned shaft, a gear carried by the drive shaft and meshing with the pinion, a

stop member designed to move into position in front of said platform, and adjustable means under the control of the drive shaft for actuating said stop after a predetermined number of articles has been counted out.

4;. A card and envelope counting machine of the character described, comprising a platform with a recess therein, a shaft extending transversely beneath said platform, a rotary ejector member mounted upon said shaft and projecting through said recess to engage one of a plurality of stacked articles on the platform, a pinion gear carried by said shaft, a drive shaft rotatably mounted adjacent said first mentioned shaft, a drive gear carried by said drive shaft and engaging said pinion, shiftable means for governing the discharge of articles from said platform, an oscillating member connected with said governing means, and a trip carried by the drive gear for acting upon said oscillating member after a predetermined numberof articles has been discharged.

5. A counter of the character described, comprising a supporting platform having an opening therein, an ejector wheel mounted beneath said platform in position for a pen tion of its periphery to project through said opening for frictional engagement with an article on the platform, means; for rotating said ejector wheel, a balanced member arranged beneath said platform, a rotating ele mentmovable with said rotating means and adapted to engage said balanced member after a predetermined period of movement, and a stop element actuated by the balanced member after the engagement of the rotating element with the balanced member, to prevent further ejection of said articles from the platform.

6. A counter of the character described, comprising 'a supporting platform having an opening therein, an ejector wheel mounted beneath said platform in position for portion of its periphery to project through said opening for frictional engagement with an article on the platform, means for rotating said ejector wheel, a balanced member arranged beneath said platform, a rotating element movable with said rotating means and adapted to engage said balanced member after a predetermined period of movement, a stop element actuated by the balanced member after the engagement of the rotating element with the balanced member to prevent further ejection of said articles from the platform, and means for engaging and holding said balanced member after being shifted by the rotating element.

7. In a counter of the character described, a platform designed to support a plurality of flat articles to be counted and having an opening formed therethrough, a rotatably mounted ejector wheel arranged beneath said platform and having a portion of its periphery extended through said opening for frictional engagement with said articles, a drive element for rotating said wheel, a rotating member connected with said drive element for simultaneous rotation therewith, an oscillating bar pivotally mounted adjacent one end, a vertically reciprocable stop member connected with said bar at one end and de signed to be extended upwardly before said platform, and a trip pin carried by said rotating member for engagement with said oscillating bar after a predetermined number of articles have been projected from the platform to shift the stop member upwardly to operative position.

8. In a counter of the character described. a platform designed to support a plurality of flat articles to be counted and having an opening formed therethrough, a rotatably mounted ejector wheel arranged beneath said platform having a portion of its periphery extended through said opening for frictional engagement with said articles, a drive element for rotating said wheel, a rotating member connected with said drive element for simultaneous rotation therewith, an oscillating bar pivotally mounted adjacent one end, a vertically reciprocable stop member connected with said bar at one end to be extended upwardly before said platform, a trip pin carried by said rotary member for engagement with said oscillating bar after a predetermined number of articles have been projected from the platform to shift the stop pin upwardly to operative position, and a spring pressed catch member designed to engage said oscillating bar when the same has been depressed by said trip pin to maintain the same in inoperative position.

9. A counter of the character set forth, comprising a support for articles to be counted, an ejector for removing the articles from the support, means for operating the ejector, a stop member movable into operative and inoperative position with respect to the articles on the support and normally occupying its inoperative position, means for moving the stop member into operative position after the removal of a predetermined number of articles from the support, and means for latching the stop member in operative position.

10. A counter of the character set forth, comprising a support for articles to be counted, an ejector for removing the articles from the support, means for operating the ejector, a stop member movable into operative and inoperative position with respect to the articles on the support and normally occupying its inoperative position, means for moving the stop member into operative position after the removal of a predetermined number of articles from the support, and manually retractable means for latching the stop member in operative position.

11. A counter of the character set forth, comprising a support for articles to be counted, an ejector for removing the articles from the support, means for operating the ejector, a stop member movable into operative and inoperative position with respect to the articles on the support, means normally maintaining the stop member in operative position, means associated with said first means and adapted after the removal of a predetermined number of articles from the support to cooperate with said second means to effect the movement of the stop member into operative position, and a manually retractable latch cooperating with said second means to hold the stop member in operative position.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

CLARENCE G. CORNING. 

